A Set-Back to Democracy: Dossier on Politically-Motivated Violence

The dossier on politically-motivated violence was presented at the 17th African Union Summit which took place from the 7th to the 14th of July 2012 in Addis Ababa. It presents a background to the political environment in Zimbabwe between January and June 2012 and gives a summary of political violence cases that affected the country.

Restrictions were placed on the operation of civil society actors. Law enforcement officers remained partisan and repressive. There was limited progress in institutional and legislative reforms. Parties in the inclusive government heavily contested security sector reforms, although the South African Development Community’s (SADC) role in pushing for these reforms was encouraging. Token changes were made in media reforms with state electronic media being fully under the control of one political party to the detriment of citizens and other political parties. Freedoms of expression, assembly and association remained heavily restricted. The constitution-making process experienced severe delays and sabotage while transitional justice and national healing were stunted. The political environment remains tense with heightened calls for elections. Human rights violations committed during the period under review included organised violence by terror groups, torture by the police, persecution of human rights defenders and murder.